Book to Film Adaptations are the WORST

In recent years, there has been a trend of literally every book being converted into a movie or TV series or Netfliz drama. While this provides exposure to the dying art of literature, it also takes away from the essence of writing itself.

There was a time when Dickens and Austen would write without inhibitions. All they had was this need for their work to be recognised and their emotions to be expressed through their art. To be fair. film as a medium did not exist at such a large scale in those times.

But ever since authors have realised that they can gain so much more exposure by reaching an audience through screen don’t we think that books, in recent times, are being written so they can easily convert into a screenplay?

There are novels whose complexity in monologue and emotion could never be translated into film such as The Catcher in the Rye and yet when you read a novel written from say 2011 onwards there is this element of shallowness which makes you wonder why it was written in the first place.

Don’t get me wrong, there have been some brilliant adaptations recently which have surpassed the book itself. I’m just concerned the book industry has become one big commercial film-turning factory.

Does any one else have these concerns?

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10 Ways To Not Give A Fuck

Happy 2019 to you all!

I recently read The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck and decided to share some gems of wisdom that might benefit us all going into the New Year. Enjoy!

1. A positive experience is a negative experience but accepting a negative experience is a positive experience: what this is trying to say is that we need to view unpleasant circumstances as a time of growth and to welcome them with open arms
2. Pain serves a purpose and is part of the process
3. Happiness requires struggle
4. Good values are:
   1. reality based
   2. socially constructive
   3. immediate
   4. controllable
5. Bad values are:
   1. superstitious
   2. socially destructive
   3. not immediate
   4. not controllable
6. The human mind is a jumble of inaccuracy
7. The more something threatens your identity, the more you will avoid it
8. Define yourself in the most simple and ordinary way possible
9. Improvement is based on tiny failures
10. growth generates happiness

While these are not my own words, I have found them very valuable in realigning my priorities in life and learning to accept things rather than fight them.

I hope these help you as well and I would strongly encourage everyone to go read the book

How Do You Read?

So you know that voice inside your head that narrates the story as you read the text on the page?

I just realised that most authors that I have read up to this point in my life have been of either American or British descent and also almost all of the books I have read were published in western society.

This got me thinking

The voice the author had while writing say a set of dialogue is different to the voice I hear when I read the exact same dialogue.

For example, if I’m reading a novel where two American teenagers go to a burger joint I’m assuming the author gave them American accents and western mannerisms.

BUT

As reading is a subconscious endeavour, despite the characters being American I give them the Australian accent I grew up learning. This is simply because I haven’t been exposed to real world American accents as much

Doesn’t that strike you as the weirdest thing?

50 people in a room could be reading the exact same page but since they have different backgrounds, life experiences etc ultimately they’re never really reading the exact same page.

I guess this is a really good way of understanding diversity and how when we travel beyond surface level everybody has a completely different worldview from yours.

Top 5 The Sun And Her Flowers Quotes

After the huge success of her first book, Rupi Kaur gave us her next ultimatum and I am here to share some quotes from her recent book that hit me right in the feels

Let me know some of your favourite quotes and be sure to check out my other posts related to Rupi Kaur and her poetry!

Top 5 Milk and Honey Quotes 

Milk and Honey and the rise of modern poetry

Your Bookshelf Is Your Identity

Have you ever thought about how the books you read help shape your identity?

In the process of moving house most of my books were lying in my garage in boxes so I thought it was about time they went on a bookshelf

A queer thing happened as I started putting together my bookshelf

I realised I simply did not want to display or keep certain books.

While these books had bought me great joy at a point in time, they did not represent the person I am at this moment and part of it is because I have grown out of those genres.

16 year old me would never even think of touching a non fiction book let alone a self help book but 19 year old me proudly displays her collection of historic, political and spiritual books.

This got me thinking, the books we read end up forming such a big part of our identity. I know it seems like every book doesn’t leave its mark but if you’re an avid reader, over time, the myriad of books you’ve read becomes a physical representation of the person you were at certain points in time.

In my early teens, I was a sucker for fantasy, contemporary and romance novels but as I’ve grown my taste has changed into classics, psychological and spiritual readings.

How much of your identity comes from the books you read?

Mini Series That You Can Finish In One Day

It can be relentless investing in a show that lasts five seasons and a healthy 22 episodes. So I’m here to share with you a new addiction of mine: Mini series!

Now, these have become very popular on Netflix but have been around for ages

Alias Grace

This one has taken Netflix by storm. Based on the novel by Margaret Atwood, the series consisting of 6 episodes follows the life of Grace who has been accused of murdering two people. It’s narrated in this beautiful monologue way and the suspense just propels you to finish it in no time

Anne with an E

Based on the novel Anne of Green Gables, Anne with an E is another 7 episode thriller. It explores the life of young Anne after she is adopted into a family residing at Green Gables. The series captures the innocence and trials of girlhood with an added sense of drama

BBC Mini Series

I am grouping this into one category as there are so many promising shows that BBC have developed. Some of them are as less as 4 episodes long and aim to adapt well known classics such as War and Peace, Tess of D’urbevilles, Pride & Prejudice and so on and so forth

 

Maze Runner: Do the Ends Justify the Means?

After a few exciting years, the much hyped series has come to an end with the release of the final film.

Now I have to admit, this film was my favourite out of the three simply because it was the most memorable.

If you’re an adrenaline junkie who likes their fair share of action this film is it.

What I liked about the film is that it doesn’t focus so much on dialogue as on conveying the message through actions. The dialogue at times felt a bit amateurish. However, the graphics and cinematography were well executed.

I must warn you though that you will remain on the edge of your seat throughout the whole 142 minutes as the story is packed with one suspense element after another. By the end you end up getting attached to all the characters and care way too much about their fates to escape for a toilet break.

I can’t say the film was exactly predictable and I enjoyed the distress some of the shocking moments caused.

All in all, the film ended on a good note which provided closure and left no room for another instalment.

Without disclosing spoilers I can’t write much further so adios for now!

The Circus: Animal Cruelty or A Better Option?

So today I went to the circus for the first time.

As I passed the gates there were inevitably some animal rights activists yet the circus promised a ‘new take’ on animal circus.

Part of me wondered if my money was going towards progressing a philosophy which did not match my morals at the core. I believe animals are sacred beings that deserve to be treated with the utmost respect for all they have done for humankind since the beginning of time.

Prior to purchasing tickets to the show I had done my research and learnt that the animals were treated in a respectful and humane manner.

Out of the two hour show the animals were only presented in three acts which consisted of them doing simple walks, turns, hurdles and flying(in the case of the Macaw). It was amusing to watch and the animals seemed to understand they were somehow pleasing the humans

A thought occurred to me as I watched the Welsh Pony gallop about the stage. If the pony hadn’t been taken in by the circus where would it be? One of the biggest arguments that animal rights activists present is that animals belong in their natural habitat aka the wild.

But looking at climate change, the increasing poaching industry and illegal hunting isn’t that pony better off in the circus where it gets fed, washed and applauded?

I believe animal circus doesn’t violate the boundaries of nature as long as it does not keep in captivity those animals that aren’t meant to be kept captive. Take the lion for example. Even then, chances are the lion will get captured or poached in the wild so isn’t it better off in the circus?

The truth is, humans have made an animal’s true home more dangerous than the ones humans provide.

So how can we sit there and judge animal circus? Isn’t it doing a greater service to the wild than a disservice?

Why Do People Want To Travel So Much?

I feel like humans ever since the beginning of time have had an innate urge to explore. We had merchants discovering countries and fertile land. We had pirates exploring the depths of the ocean

But modern travel is quite something else I believe.

With the rise of Instagram fame and Youtube and hello blogging, I feel like people are more eager to travel and explore new parts of the world.

I guess a huge part of it is this obssession with sharing how amazing our lives really our. Ar face value anyway. Summer in Greece, Winter in Serbia, Spring in Japan. We want everyone to see how great of a time we’re having don’t we?

Globalisation would be a major factor too I suppose.

I mean it’s a good thing. Exploring new places and cultures makes us less ignorant, sometimes we delve into parts of the world that our parents would have written off as “too dangerous” or “too controversial”

We are becoming something of a travel generation and it lets us understand people better, make connections and hopefully reduces prejudice in the upcoming years when the old generation gets replaced by our new, fresh and less ignorant one.

The One Thing That Successful Authors Never Do

It has recently come to my attention that there is something crucial that most if not ALL successful authors do.

They don’t read reviews of their books

I know. Bummer.

And here I am three years later thinking how all the reviews written on this blog and on Goodreads were left unread by all my fav authors

But why?

It’s simple. They do it for their peace of mind.

I mean you tell yourself I’m going to read so and so many reviews to see how my book is doing. But one mean word about your book baby and you’re left shattered

Books are hard work. They don’t just take time and commitment, authors are sending out a piece of themselves. Sometimes people talk about things in their books that they have NEVER dealt with before.

To have that tossed around like an English Literature project must be hard to come to terms with.

I mean as a successful authors who knows they’re successful, why would you need to care what people think anyway. Bottom line is people either liked it or they didn’t. The evolving nature of our society means that people will move on to the next best thing anyway

Of course there are authors who do read reviews, but for the most part, I think the successful ones prefer to live in shadows